It was a valiant effort

I tried my best but at the 13 hour mark I fell victim to a bunch of airborne germs that have been festering in my house ( I ain't mad at ya honey) . Paired together with some tooth pain and I didn't see getting very far in the readathon. From hour one I was reading at a snails pace but I guess if you choose a book that has a lot of Medical terms in it then you get what you ask for. I was reminded that having MS I will more often than not have cognitive issues and in those 'cog-fog's I can only do so much. Pair that together with the cold that I have and "Boom" the wheels on my mental train of thought re: reading will fall off and I'm forced to mentally pull into the station. Well it was fun while it lasted, I wanted to thank the cheer-readers that came and visited me, I want to thank the folks that stopped by to read my thoughts on what I had to say.

As far as future participation is concerned I have some thoughts on that, I do try to do my reading in the name of Multiple Sclerosis in order to bring awareness and understanding - I mistakingly choose books sometimes that are too technical and books that I shouldn't just breeze through, If I come back next April I would like to try something that doesn't require too much understanding, perhaps a Bio/autobio? Well regardless of my future choice I'm just glad that I tried.

For my fellow MSers http://24hourreadathon.com/


For fellow readers and non-reading fans http://www.nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx

Call of Cthulu Wrap up

The Call of Cthulu in a nutshell is just a great story, like I wrote in my last post it has kind of a Radio Play feel to it,

but before I go on

Mid-Event Survey

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired? I'm ok, some minor jaw pain
2) What have you finished reading? 40% of one book** 10 % of another
3) What is your favorite read so far? The Call Of Cthulu
4) What about your favorite snacks? Chicken Wings!
5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!

** having MS and wanting to spread awareness I decided on a book that I had acquired around last Christmas regarding MS and Mental Health.. It was proving to be a bit too meaty for a readathon and I think I will continue it when I can take notes

more on The Call of Cthulu

I just finished part two in The Call of Cthulu and I'm finding it a very engaging story. It's almost surreal in a sense, I can almsot see this as an old time radio show from the 1920's (the time it was written) at the same time it also reminded me of the South Park pardy of Cthulu, regardless of where your mind my wander this is definitly a story I'm enjoying (even at my leisurely pace)

New Book

 

So far juat read part one of the first story in this anthology, The Call Cthulu by HP Lovecraft! This story has it all! Horrible disfiguired monsters, cults, maniacs!! I'm intrigued to see how this turns out, For a story more than eighty years old the story is packing quite a whallop! I can say that in an era before Gene Rodenberry and way before Stephen King, Mr Lovecraft certainly knew how to tell a story

A Change in the game!

BOOK B

BOOK A

for the time being I have halted further reading of book A and heading to book B! M is for Monster, a nice way to get in the Halloween mood I think! Quick note, book A was fine but it's just making me nervous, considering it's about an immune disease that I have

I am not good with math, it'll be 4PM EST soon

I am really learning a lot here, I am about Half way into my first book (going slow because there are a lot of scientific terms and also this is a subject that involves me personally I don't want to ZIP threw it quickly)  I thought I would take a second to give a shout out to worthy information centers RE: Multiple Sclerosis

http://www.msassociation.org/?gclid=CNPHqKTf_rICFY-6zAod9HAAUw

http://erasems.org/

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx

the 6th hour ends

I hate to beat a dead horse* but.. as slow as I'm reading I am having a good time. :-) it's always helpful for me (or most people with MS)  to get a refresher on other MSers and to take a glance at their coping skills and see what lessons could be learned. Patricia Farrell has done an excellent job (thus far) of presenting the stories of different MSers and how unpredictable the disease is

*the dead horse is my unhappiness about my slow reading which is due to my MS which I am reading about funny enough

Making sense

Even though I was diagnosed with MS almost three years ago I am finding great and relevant info in my book selection Its Not All Your Head, I'm being reminded of the choices that I make and how they effect my healing and my diseases progression. Aside from the seriousness of my book selection, I am having a great readathon thus far, one thing that I've had to keep in mind is that I've felt that i read at a sluggish pace I have to remember that the "thon" isn't a race, and that my cognitive setbacks (as I'm reading in my book) effect my memory and reading retention

trudging along

ok so I am learning a lot about myself here, A major issue that MS sufferers go through is "brain fog" or a haze as I like to call it. If you had a Pac-Man like auto immune disease fighting blindly against your brain you too would have issues with short term memoru recall... Mood is another big issue

I'm having an issue posting here, I think we all broke blogger :(

I decided to come back, it is weird to read about certain situations at the same time they are effecting your reading process.. hence the title of the post, trudging along

See ya in a bit

ok so I'm in this now

Hour 1, not to shabby, I'm reading It's not all in your head. By Patricia Farrelll PHD, I know that I selected a super serious book but Multiple Sclerosis is not a subject to be taken lightly. I haven't gotten extremely far because I am 'enjoying' some of the cognitive situations that I'm readding about (not really enjoying them) but again I'm just sharing my info here today to hope to share info between my two worlds My MS world and the reading world

cutting it close

GOOD MORNING!  Time to start off on another reading adventure and I feel good, woke uwithout too many concerns, took my vitamins and I'm drinking my coffee. I'm in the process of starting and I thought I'd answer some questions!!

Introductory Questionnaire

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

1 I am from Port Saint Lucie Florida!! WOOP WOOP!
2 It's not all in your head, a book concerning MS and behavior.. deep stuff but since I have MS I wanted to start off with something close to me :)
3 lol Umm I guess my pretzels
4 well I'm running late at the moment so I'm not prompt lol
5 I wouldn't do anything differently! no regrets!!

ciao!! gotta go

I'm kind of excited in the final preps for tomorrows readathon, at the moment all that's left is final preps for some snacks and just to rest up for tomorrow. Being in a 24 readathon AND having Multiple Sclerosis isn't an easy task but I gladly participate In the name of MS Awareness and remind my fellow MSers that it's still fun to read something that isn't a computer screen, or maybe to try audiobooks. 

Participating is fun, you get to devote a huge chunk of time to shutting out noise and just diving into some good reading, After some coffee and an extra B12 pill tomorrow I should be raring to go, Having optic neuritis (or at least mild optic neuritis ) it is difficult sometimes to read  being involved in this event is really important to me, having MS - one the other issue(s) I face is cognitive, no real cure for that except maybe taking time outs and remembering that although it's supposed to be a 24 event it's not mandatory, What is important is to have fun and to try to write about it, whether on FB or your own blog.

https://www.facebook.com/readathon

http://24hourreadathon.com/

My choices for tomorrow!

My Readathon Quandary!

Tomorrow is Can Do MS day and I decided to pick my book (books) for next months Readathon, it may seem trivial to some but it is something for me to take into consideration. In past readathons I've read both fiction and nonfiction, what I'm stuck on is IF I dedicate my time to a nonFiction MS book then I don't want to make the mistake of buzzing through the book too quickly, and since I'm dedicating my time on behald of Multiple Sclerosis and MS Advocacy I always question whether I shouldn't be reading an MS focused book. 

Right now as it stands there are two particular books that are leading the race

It's Not All in Your Head by Patricia Farrell PHD

it's common for MSers and to experience a wide array of issues and Dr Farrell deals with these issues in her book 

(please be aware that since I'm deciding which books to read that I haven't READ them yet)

and M is for Monster a Modern Bestiary of Classic Monsters

and just in time for Halloween a true scare fest!!

so far these books are leading the pack, eventual back-ups to these books include books by Palahniuk (which I have a few which I haven't cracked yet) and in a not so distant third place is

11/22/63 an imaginative story set a midst the tumult of the Kennedy Assassination with a fictional story as the main focus.

I invite any input by fellow MSers or fellow Bibliophiles, my intended Readathon is on October 13th   

Learn more here

Deweys 24 Hour Readathon  

NMSS

UPDATE!

Ok, I'm proud to report that I am AOK and alive. As evidenced by my lack of posts I had a very VERY lazy August. One bright spot is I did a little post for Erase MS a few weeks ago regarding the readathon that I like to participate in and I am happy to say that the readathon is back for October. On October 13th Deweys 24 hour readathon is back, it isn't necessary to do the whole thing but it's fun to try. I do my part in the readathon to raise Multiple sclerosis awareness, it's quite a feat considering that I have cognitive issues and I can have minor vision issues related to fatigue. Nothing should be impossible so I will be doing my part to SAFELY bring MS awareness and remind MSers to not be scared of books! I invite you to check them out here Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon!

My final thoughts on Spring Readathon 12'

well, as is typical of my body, I was able to do my reading for springs readathon till the 16th hour mark rolled around but then my body gave out. After I woke up and tended to some business outside of the house I was able to retreat to a quiet area and finish the book. It's kind of funny reading historical fiction, I wanted to know what happened to Lincoln! see how Grahame-Smith was going to weave the assassination into the mythos of Vampire Hunters. Well needless to say I wasn't dissapointed, I'm eager to see how the movie turns out

Regrets? I have none! I have to get some sleep

I believe I've forth a valiant effort but my MS effected brain wants me to get some sleep, it's a shame too because my book is really getting good, (I'm almost to the end, but 19th century speak while your brain is tired is no fun) All told I read only 275 pages but they were some long ass funky pages. But I'm glad I made it into the 17th hour (my personal best) I would like to do a better recap of what I thought of the book, perhaps tomorrow after I finish it, To my fellow readers I say Keep fighting the good fight, you're 2/3 the way there.

The witching hour AKA tricky 16

Alas I'm heading to my twi-light hour, the mid-night hour which has been my Waterloo in the past few readathons but I'm still determined. The Book is doing a good job with blending fiction with reality, very good in that I might have to do some googling tomorrow to check some facts out. I'm not trying to bow out just yet but theres about sixty pages left and I don't know if I can make it. 

past the 13th hour mark, I'm in it to win it!!

this book has impressed me, Seth Grahame-Smith has managed to take real instances in Lincolns life and weaved them into a tale to show you the life of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter I have to admit that my eyes as well as my concentration has been a little shaky this past hour. Not to bad for a disabled guy though. I'm glad I'm reading this before any movie ruins my perception of the tale.

reading in the name of Multiple Sclerosis and MSers everywhere

I am just taking this time to remember my inspiration for doing the readathon, My fellow MSers and to shine the light on us tonight. Having Cognitive issues as well as vision difficulty with MS, reading is sometimes not my favoritist of activities, but thanks to events like this one, I get to share and blend my two worlds together.

http://www.msassociation.org/ National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Readathon Post 3 Hour 10

since I'm snailing it thus far I'm proud to announce that I am in the MIDDLE of the book, and I'm still excited. If Seth Grahame-Smiths work is that good in ALVH then maybe his screenplay for Tim Burton's Dark Shadows may not be as horrendous as the commercial makes it seem, well one can only hope.